She is arguably one of the biggest pop stars in music today - with summer anthems like "Espresso" and "Manchild" continuing to rock the charts - but the two-time Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Sabrina Carpenter has utilized her elevated platform and star power to raise much-needed funds for important issues that remain nearest and dearest to her.

Created alongside her PLUS1 partner, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the fund takes $1 from every one of her touring ticket sales and has now reached and surpassed $1 million in less than a year, a major milestone that was achieved faster than any other PLUS1 music artist. The Sabrina Carpenter Fund raised $824,000 during her Short n’ Sweet North American tour, while generating 7,513,305 collective views on social media from fans, and arrived at the $1 million mark during her European tour dates.

Carpenter shared exclusively with me, “Less than a year ago, I launched a fund with PLUS1 around the Short n’ Sweet tour to help support some of the issue areas that matter most to me—mental health, animal welfare and LGBTQ+ rights. I’m so grateful that I get to use my platform to amplify the work of incredible organizations like the JED Foundation, PAPYRUS, and Rainbow Railroad. The work of these groups is truly life-changing – from The JED Foundation’s focus on protecting teen mental health and preventing suicide, to PAPYRUS, which provides mental health support for LGBTQ+ youth in the UK through its 24/7 hotline, to Rainbow Railroad, which helps ensure safety and freedom for LGBTQ+ people around the world.”

With over 10 years of impact, PLUS1 has disbursed over $30 million to over 830 nonprofits, in partnership with today’s top music artists, from Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan to Noah Kahan and Tyler the Creator. Marika Anthony-Shaw, founder and CEO of PLUS1 and a former band member of the music group Arcade Fire, explained how the nonprofit initially came about.

Anthony-Shaw said, “PLUS1 was this simple idea that $1 from every concert ticket should go to creating positive impact. We did that with Arcade Fire. We’re really good at convening people, we’re good at bringing in audiences, and how can we leverage what we’re really good at to make a positive impact in the world? So, that was the idea and since our founding in 2014, it’s really expanded. We’ve helped over 350 artists, cultural leaders, comedians, and other podcast folks to be able to channel their platform into lasting change. It’s really this philosophy of harnessing the collective energy of a passionate fanbase, of audiences - of working together.”

Having started PLUS1 more than a decade ago, I wondered what it was about the state of the world at that time, that made Anthony-Shaw feel that there was a real need for this type of nonprofit fundraising.

“There was a couple things. I’m definitely of the school of once you learn something, you don’t unlearn it. Once you see it, you don’t unsee it. And so, it was really about us as kind of cultural leaders, and my experience in Arcade Fire, where we were saying - ‘We’ve got this microphone.’ With all of the artists that we work with, but in particular with Sabrina, this understanding of the responsibility of holding that microphone. Responsibility of being able to contribute in a meaningful way and at a scale that we might not otherwise be able to do.”

As for how this PLUS1 partnership with Carpenter came to fruition, Anthony-Shaw said, “She really came to us with a strong sense of the issues that she cared about and wanting to do something about that, and those issues were connected in many ways, and also separate. So, mental health, animal welfare, LGBTQ rights - our role was really to help make those passions actionable. So, that was really her strong sense of purpose, and leadership kind of came to us to be a strategic guidance.”

Anthony-Shaw added about her interactions with Carpenter surrounding this active PLUS1 fund: “I think when we’re talking about being an important leader, she’s an exceptional philanthropic partner. She’s deeply thoughtful about the causes that she supports. She’s incredibly engaged in the strategic process - and so, she’s really involved in every kind of strategic decision. She brings a lot of creative ideas to this. She’s interested in bringing in multiple facets of her business. Whether that’s the tour itself - she went beyond the traditional dollar per ticket model and had an Erewhon brand partnership, where that was also able to support mental health for folks - thinking creatively through all aspects of her business on how she can also contribute.”

Having reached the $1 million milestone with PLUS1, what happens next for the Sabrina Carpenter Fund?

“I think that when we’re thinking about the future, I think her success really demonstrates that today’s cultural leaders and today’s artists & celebrities want more than sort of traditional charity models - always looking to innovate and they want strategic partnerships. I think that her fund really proves that when you give artists the right infrastructure and strategic partnership, they can really have consequential and significant, actionable impact. I think we’re seeing this model inspire a lot of other cultural leaders, when they look to her and what she’s been able to accomplish. I’m thinking about their philanthropic approach when we’re thinking about the speed of this milestone. When it’s possible, when an artist’s passion meets strategic execution - and then I think when we’re looking to the future for her fund, we keep going, right? We’re constantly developing new partnership opportunities - innovative activations. I think we’re expanding beyond these traditional models and she’s such a great partner to do that alongside. So, we’ll continue to work closely with her and the fund, and will continue to grow and have this extraordinary impact.”

While concluding our conversation about the Sabrina Carpenter Fund’s ongoing achievements, Carpenter had one more message to share with a specific community of fans that have remained loyal supporters throughout her career.

She said, “As Pride comes to a close, I want to send so much love to my LGBTQ+ fans. You’ve always shown up for me, and I’m committed to showing up for you. Thank you for always uplifting me, making me laugh and showing so many how special it is to be authentically yourself, always.”